Chasing Starlight: Cassandra's Story (The Daughters of Night Chronicles)

by Jennifer Siddoway

  “That should be good.”

  “Yeah, but I miss you,” I informed her with a pout. “When do I get to see you again? Are you coming back for Christmas?”

  “I don’t know, Hon. I will try, but it depends on if I can get the time off. Peter is being a real jerk these days.”

  “That stinks.”

  Halle wagged her finger at me and grinned. “You could always fly out here, too, you know.”

  “Are you kidding? My schedule is even more packed than yours; I have to work around the school year. We don’t get those extra-long breaks like you graduate students.”

  “Don’t worry, Cass. We’ll figure something out.”

  Our conversation moved on to other topics as she told me about her job and what things were like living on the East Coast. I nodded appropriately throughout the conversation but, every now and then, my eyes flickered to the silver flute sitting on my nightstand. Halle must have noticed my distraction and cleared her throat uncomfortably.

  “Are you expecting Luna?” she asked me.

  I chuckled. “Always.”

  “How are you sleeping?”

  “You mean besides the usual?” I responded dryly. “Just collecting the Dust of Dreamers like I’m supposed too. Why?”

  Halle pouted as she said, “I just worry about you sometimes. Dust is important, but so is your career.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” I reminded her. “Besides, you know I don’t need as much sleep as you—it comes with the territory.”

  She stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes. “Well, you can’t stop me from worrying. When you don’t get enough sleep, it makes your anxiety worse—you know that. Tell Luna to give you a night off for once.”

  She was right, of course. However, my duties in the Fae Realm took precedence over my wellbeing.

  “I’ll let her know,” I told Halle with a grin. “Speaking of which, it’s time for you to go to sleep, or you’ll be a mess in class tomorrow.”

  As if I summoned her yawn, Halle covered her mouth. “You’re right. Goodnight, Cass. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  T he next day, I returned to Canopy Oaks for the faculty meeting and to finish setting up my classroom. I smiled timidly as the teachers and staff gathered in the cafeteria. It was noisy, almost overwhelming, as they chatted with a familiarity I should have expected. Megan from the front office mentioned that most of the teachers had been around for years. I was distinctly aware of feeling like an outsider and hung back against the wall, waiting for the meeting to be over.

  When my anxiety rose, I exhaled through my nose to stave off another episode. Alice sidled up beside me and said, “There you are! Why don’t you sit with me? I’ll introduce you to the other third-grade teachers.”

  Her offer was so kind and genuine that I nodded, allowing her to take my hand and lead me to a row of chairs where three other women were sitting. “Hi, you must be Cassandra Williams,” one of them said with an outstretched hand. “It’s nice to put a face with a name. I’m Harriet Nielson.”

  “Oh, it’s nice to meet you too. I think you’re in the room right next to mine,” I informed her with a smile.

  Harriet grinned. “You’ve got an excellent memory.”

  The other women introduced themselves, and we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. We were silenced by Principal Montford standing on the stage.

  “Welcome, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful summer. We have some new faces this year. Please join me in welcoming them to the Canopy Oaks family.”

  The people around me offered polite applause before he continued. “Melissa King will join us in the art department, Kelsey McBride will be in fourth grade, and Cassandra Williams is joining us in third.”

  As their names were called, the women stood up and smiled while waving to the crowd. My cheeks warmed to a violent blush as I rose to the sound of my name, wincing at the sudden attention. I hoped it came across as a natural smile, but my insides were anything but relaxed.

  When they finished, I took my seat and slunk into the chair, willing myself invisible so that I could disappear. Thankfully, the moment was forgotten once the principal moved on to remind us about schedules and the wide variety of school activities. Before long, the assembly finished, and we were dismissed in time for lunch. Amidst the commotion of well-wishes on my way to the door, a tall man with dark brown hair approached me.

  “Hello there, gorgeous,” he addressed me with a smile. “You must be Cassandra.”

  “Er, I am.”

  “Matt Christensen, Physical Education, but you can call me anything you want after I take you out for a date on Friday.”

  My blush intensified as I responded. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Christensen, but I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. Thanks for the offer.”

  His smile widened. “You should call me Matt.”

  “Alright, Matt…but I should get going.”

  Alice came to my rescue by placing a protective arm around my shoulder and casting him a warning glance. “Really, Matt? Isn’t it a little early in the school year to start cheating on your wife? She just let you move back in.”

  The man frowned. “Mind your own business, Alice. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Maybe not, but I recognize a rat when I see one—she’s not interested.”

  She and I made a beeline for the door and made it to the hall, where Alice whispered, “Don’t worry about it, Honey. He does that to all the new girls when they start.”

  “Why doesn’t the principal do something about it?”

  “Because, strictly speaking, having an affair is not a fire-able offense if it takes place off school property.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, brother.”

  She nodded while we approached another set of doors. “I’d just stay away from him if I were you.”

  Before I could ask anything more, she disappeared through the doors inside, leaving me scratching my head, trying to figure out what just happened. It was an emotional morning, and I was starving. I headed for the parking lot and walked as fast as I could.

  Once safely in my car, I took a few calming breaths with my hands clutching the steering wheel. I mastered myself, then backed out of the parking space. I maneuvered the car out of the lot and pulled onto the main road. The area was vaguely familiar so I picked a food truck just around the corner and went to get lunch.

  The cook smiled as she handed out the burritos, and I thanked her, saying, “Gracias!”

  The smell of peppers and queso mixed with pulled pork made my mouth water as I searched for a place to sit. My eyes caught sight of a bench across the sidewalk and I went to claim a seat when I heard my name called behind me.

  “Cassandra?”

  At the sound of the deep baritone voice, my chest tightened. I hadn’t heard it in years but would never mistake the voice for any other. Slowly, I turned around and was met by a pair of dark brown eyes.

  Michael Godwin.

  Our eyes connected across the sidewalk, and there he was, looking just as devastatingly handsome as I remembered. Seeing him after all this time was a jolt, bringing a wave of emotions I was utterly unprepared for. I was back in high school all over again, staring at the only man I ever loved. We were nearly inseparable during our brief yet intense relationship, but it all ended when he graduated two years ahead of me.

  I was devastated when he left. he was my first love and my first heartbreak all in one.

  Holy Hell.

  He was taller than I remembered, and his shaggy, black hair was brushed carelessly to the side of his face. His brown eyes gazed at me, still awaiting my response when he cocked an eyebrow with amusement.

  After the shock subsided, a smile spread across my face. “Michael?”

  “Yeah, it’s me,” he responded. “How’ve you been?”

  I shook my head, still trying to wrap my mind around the likelihood of running into him on a random street corner and
said, “Oh, my God, it’s so nice to see you. This is so weird; I just came here on my lunch break.”

  Michael’s smile widened, and he joined me on the bench with a soft drink in his hand. “Well, this is a great place. I come here all the time. Do you mind if I join you?”

  “I’d love that.”

  He took a seat on the bench beside me and said, “I didn’t realize you were back in town.”

  I chuckled, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. “Yeah, I just moved back. I took a job here right out of graduate school.”

  “That’s great! You were getting a degree in education?”

  He remembered.

  My smile widened as I told him, “Yeah, I just finished with my masters and started teaching at Canopy Oaks.”

  “Very cool. You always wanted to be a teacher. What grade did they assign you?”

  “Third.”

  Michael grinned as he took a drink, saying, “Ouch. That’s a rough age.”

  “Meh, not as bad as middle school. I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.”

  He laughed as I smiled back at him and try to ignore the thrill of seeing that all too familiar smile. “What about you? What are you doing in these parts?”

  Michael grinned. “Well, while you were up at Arizona State, I was down at UCLA getting my doctorate in veterinary science. I work at the San Diego Zoo, treating the animals.”

  “Oh, my God, that’s so perfect for you.”

  “I love it,” he confessed. “There’s nothing better than talking to animals all day, but you probably knew I’d say that.”

  I nodded with a hint of a smile on my lips. It was no coincidence he and I had been friends for such a long time; fae are naturally drawn to one another. He was the first supernatural being I encountered outside my family. I wish I could say falling in love with him was avoidable, but I’d be lying. He was the boy next door and everything I always wanted, approachable and easy to talk to. When I fell for him, it was hard.

  He knew me, the real me, and I didn’t have to pretend like I was something that I wasn’t.

  We spent the next hour talking and laughing about old times before we both had to get back to work. I couldn’t stop smiling as he walked me to my car I and had butterflies in my stomach. At first, I chalked it up to nerves but, the longer he stayed, the more I wondered if it was something different.

  Michael smiled when we reached the parking lot. “It was great seeing you, Cass. We should do it again sometime. I could take you out for drinks if you’d like, maybe this weekend perhaps? What do ya say? Are you interested?”

  “Sure, that sounds fun,” I told him.

  Michael flashed his perfect teeth, and my stomach somersaulted. “Great! I get off work around five-thirty. Do you want to meet me at The Loft on Friday around seven?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, that gives me time to change out of my work clothes. I’ll see you there.”

  “Alright, it’s a date. I’ll see you there, Butterfly Girl.”

  I turned away from him before my face erupted into the heat of an embarrassing blush and opened the door to my car. My heart raced the entire way back to Canopy Oaks and only relaxed once I was forced to concentrate on work.

  A date with Michael Godwin. This will be interesting.

  My Heart Skips a Beat

  Chapter Two

  T he rest of the week passed by faster than I thought possible.

  On Friday evening, I held up an outfit to check my reflection in the mirror. The pattern didn’t flatter me quite the way I wanted it to, and I let out a frustrated sigh. I’d been fretting over my non-date with Michael since he texted earlier to confirm our evening plans. I didn’t want to give the impression it was anything more than two old friends hanging out, but I also didn’t want to come across as sloppy. It was a delicate balance.

  I considered a silk top with a scoop neckline and cringed.

  Ick, too green.

  Halle watched from my computer screen with amusement, saying, “Nope. I don’t think that’s the one.”

  “Ugh, I’m getting to the end of my closet. What should I choose?”

  Whenever we had the chance, we spent a couple of hours chatting via Skype, the closest we could get to being together. It didn’t fill the void of not living with my twin, but it helped, especially on days like this when I badly needed advice.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “I think you look good in florals,” she offered. “Don’t you have a blouse and skirt somewhere on your bed? I saw them earlier.”

  Nodding at her suggestion, I threw the silk top back into my closet and searched for an outfit matching her description. Half my wardrobe was florals, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch. I sorted through the hangers of different fabrics and picked out one of my favorite dresses. The material was sheer with pink and yellow flowers along the skirt and a cream-colored liner—delicate and feminine, everything I was hoping to achieve.

  Halle watched me take it off the hanger and said, “I can’t believe I’m enabling this behavior. He broke your heart, remember? Why are you going out with him?”

  I scoffed at her gross oversimplification of the situation. “That was a long time ago, Halle. Besides, you can’t blame the guy for going away to college. We’re just hanging out as friends. It’s no big deal.”

  Her smile faded. “If you say so. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again. I’m actually proud of you for putting yourself out there.”

  I knew she meant it from the tone in her voice and smiled. “Thanks, but you have nothing to be afraid of. Michael’s a nice guy. We’re going to have drinks, maybe dance a while, and then go home—it’ll be great.”

  “Yeah? Well, this will be good practice then.”

  “For what?”

  “For when you go on an actual date. I mean, there’s no hope for me. I plan on dying alone with a dozen cats, but you are way too cute to stay home on a Friday night.”

  “Stop it. You’re being ridiculous.”

  I slipped out of my clothes and changed into the floral sundress. It fit comfortably around my bust and flared around my waist, with the hem falling just below my knees. I examined my reflection in the mirror, then posed for Halle with a hopeful smile. “So? What do you think?”

  Halle beamed, lowering her cup of ramen noodles so she could see me properly. “Cassandra, you look beautiful—you really do. Maybe add a necklace and earrings? It would help dress it up.”

  I nodded in agreement and raided my jewelry box.

  “How did you end up running into each other anyway? I thought Michael was in Los Angeles.”

  “He was,” I confirmed, clasping a golden chain around my neck. “But he came back here after college just like I did. Now he’s a veterinarian for the San Diego Zoo.”

  Halle snorted, fully aware of his fae abilities just like I was. “That figures. It’s right up his alley.”

  I chuckled as I put on the earrings. “Doesn’t it? It’s funny how things work out like that. I ran into him at a food truck a couple days ago during my lunch hour, we just started talking.”

  Her lips twitched slightly, and she fell oddly silent. “That’s great. I’m sure you’ll have fun, just don’t get any romantic ideas in your head. It’s pointless looking backward, that always backfires. I know there’s a fantastic guy out there for you, but not him.”

  I frowned. “Give it a rest, Halle. I told you, it’s just drinks.”

  Halle sighed. “Listen, I’ve got to get back to the station to wrap up a couple things. Are you good from here?”

  “I think so. Love you!”

  “Love you, too. Have fun and let me know how it goes.”

  “I will.”

  We hung up, and I let out an exasperated sigh. I could feel the anxiety rising. My stomach tensed, and my palms began to sweat and tremble as I glanced over to the door. I was nervous about going out, worried about making a fool of myself. That’s why I was such a loner and kept to myself indoors. And I wa
s concerned about Halle. I never wanted to upset my sister, and, despite what she said, I had a feeling that agreeing to see Michael had done just that. Red splotches of blush flared around my clavicle and neckline, only making the situation worse.

  Calm down, Cass. You can do this.

  My anxiety disorder had worsened since I was a child and presented with chronic blushing. It sounded much cuter than it was. Our parents took me to numerous doctors when I was little. A CT scan showed a condition called idiopathic craniofacial erythema. They tried to resolve the issue with exploratory surgery, but the attempts proved too dangerous, and I was forced to live with the enduring symptoms.

  When I read in romance novels with women blushing adorably, it filled me with rage. For them, it was charming and attractive, because that was how blushing should present itself—I was not so lucky. The human body responded to stress, or adrenaline, in one of two ways, the first being the lovely pink cheeks and rosy complexion of embarrassment. The other was the way my body reacted, with heat and red, blotchy spots that broke out across the skin where neurotransmitters released a flood of hormone into my body.

  It’s not attractive at all.

  Even worse, it was not restricted to embarrassment. The red splotches presented when I felt any strong emotion: sadness, anger, excitement, even arousal. Stress about an upcoming test, a job interview, or any number of things could be a trigger, and I had no control over it whatsoever. Those who knew me understood the struggle, but it still caused a considerable amount of anxiety for me to be in social situations lest it presents itself again.

  I closed my eyes and breathed through my nose, counting backward in my head from twenty. When I opened my eyes again, the splotches were gone, and I looked normal. Seeing the symptoms reduced helped me breathe a sigh of relief. I left my long, blonde hair down, hoping that would make me appear relaxed and not the stuttering, anxious mess I always was. Cool gray eyes stared back at me from the mirror, usually hidden behind cat-eye glasses, but tonight, I opted for contacts instead.

  Glancing at my phone, I saw my Uber would arrive any minute, so I finished putting on the last few touches of make-up and smoothed down my hair.